Payroll Development Authority OKs funding for Albany area manufacturers

ALBANY — The Albany-Dougherty Payroll Development Authority took care of a significant amount of business at its meeting Tuesday morning, taking action that Albany-Dougherty Economic Development Commission President Justin Strickland called “the culmination of a lot of hard work.”

In short order, the PDA:

— Approved a resolution and intergovernmental agreement that will allocate $200,000 from the city of Albany’s Job Investment Fund for use by Mars Chocolate of North America;

— OK’d a similar agreement with Webstaurant, with a $600,000 grant from the fund;

— Agreed to a 20-year lease with the restaurant supply company that will come with a $95,001 annual lease payment;

— Approved an agreement through which the PDA will become in-name owner of equipment at the Webstaurant facility to accommodate a $300,000 EDGE grant, for which the authority will serve as a pass-through agent;

— Agreed to serve as the pass-through agent for a $500,000 OneGeorgia loan to Thrush Aircraft of Albany;

— OK’d a sublease agreement that will allow Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany to install a generator on grounds of the Procter & Gamble campus so that the base can become an active partner in the biomass plant being built on P&G property.

“This action today is the culmination of a lot of hard work,” Strickland said after the PDA meeting. “We’ve been working on all of these projects for some time, and it’s satisfying to see them all come to fruition. Each one of these projects will have a positive impact on our community and our region.”

The Job Investment Fund grants, which come from a fund made up of one-third of credits sent to the city of Albany by the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia, were available to Mars and Webstaurant after they met standards established by the city for use of the funding. The two awards were previously approved by the joint City Commission/Albany Utility Board Long-Term Financial Planning Committee and the Albany City Commission.

Strickland told the PDA board Mars met one of the criteria established for the funds by investing $14 million in the community.

“Mars has already met the criteria by investing $14 million to start the goodnessknows snack line here,” the EDC president said. “We’re very thankful that Albany is the only place in the world these snacks are made.”

Webstaurant met the $600,000 threshold by investing more than $10 million in the community and providing a plan by which it will add more than 200 new jobs.

“Based on the parameters approved by the city, Webstaurant will make an investment locally of more that $10 million, and they plan to add as many as 245 new jobs,” Strickland said. “They’re ramping up their work force now and are, I believe, around 180 employees.”

Strickland told the PDA board the sublease agreement with the Marine base will allow that installation to become the first in the nation to achieve net-zero energy status.

“They will be, we believe, the first installation in our military to rely completely on green energy,” he said.

Mayor Dorothy Hubbard asked Strickland to provide a report that she can present to Albany city commissioners.

“I need this compliance information to share with the commission,” she said.